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Friday, November 19, 2010

The Headboard Tutorial

So I ran out of time to post the tutorial for our headboard yesterday, so without further ado, the painstaking tale of really how not to create a headboard/learn as you go building! We made lots of mistakes which I will highlight for you as to avoid our pain troubles.

Supply List:

1 piece of 1/2 inch plywood cut to your desired length. For a king we did 78 inches

3, 4 foot boards (for the legs)

Enough foam to cover the plywood (can be pieced together)

1 sheet of batting long enough and wide enough to cover your board

Fabric of your choosing (with about 6 inches to spare on each side)

Nail head trim if you choose

3, 1x4 boards (1/2 thick) if you choose to do trim

Staple Gun

Screws and Drill

Hammer

Process:
{1} Attach your legs (4 inch boards) to your plywood using screws. We screwed through the front of the board so if there was any excess we could hammer them flat to the back and the front surface would remain flat. We attached ours right at the edge of the board to line up with our bed frame, and also because we were not worried about seeing the legs as we have 2 night side tables on either side of our bed that will be there permanently to hoard our junk and the hubby's fighter pilot mask.

{2} Cover your plywood with foam. I used cheap 1 inch foam from Wal-mart. Trust me, this stuff can get expensive, so you wanna try to use a coupon. Don't worry if you can't find foam wide enough (most likely you won't be able too), it can be pieced together and never seen. Using spray adhesive, just work in pieces until your entire piece is covered. You can also use hot glue on the edges if they won't stay down.

{3} Attempt to hammer in 1 decorative nail head to see if it will stay.
{4} Find out that it will not stay, and devise plan B.
{5} Cut out approximately 4 inches of the foam around the top and sides and drill in 1/4 boards to create a "border" that will allow the nail head trim to be hammered into.

Here it is with the "cut outs"

Here it is with the attached boards.

{6} Cover the whole thing with high rise batting by simply stapling to the back side of the board. Make sure you actually read the package and buy a piece that is wide enough to fit your enormous headboard. Otherwise you will become very frustrated, have a minor breakdown to your husband, and then devise a plan to piece it together and hot glue the seam together. It actually turned out not to matter at all, but I was very worried you would see the seam down the middle.

{8} Cover your headboard with the fabric of your choosing. We chose a velvety gray fabric that was on sale at JoAnne's, but anything will work. Just make sure it's "sturdy" enough to be able to pull tight. I recommend stapling the very center of each side first, then continue pulling tight and go around the edges. Since we opted to attach our headboard directly to our bed frame instead of the wall (which would be impossible as our bed is front of a window, but we also didn't want to leave huge holes in the wall) you will have to sort of cut slits in the bottom of the fabric to go around the legs. Don't worry, this doesn't have to be perfect...No one will ever see it, it's behind your mattress.

{9} Start nailing individual nail heads to your "raised" wood border in a pattern you like. Get about 1 foot done and realize that it will be absolutely impossible to keep them in a straight line even with precise measuring. Pitch another fit because "you went through all this work and it won't even work now", pout, etc. Then devise plan C.

{10} Get online and order a roll of nail head trim that only requires nailing every 5th hole and wait patiently for it to arrive.

{11} Decide on a pattern and begin nailing into the wood. You will want to use a mallet (a regular hammer covered in a sock) so as to not damage your nail head trim.

{12} Slice your fingers open multiple times by stupidly not wearing work gloves while dealing with a roll of METAL!!

{13} Apply work gloves and finish your project.

{14} Admire your hard work! After it all it did take sweat, tears, and even blood!!

I chose a double row of nail head trim spaced exactly 3 inches apart

{15} Wait for your husband to get home to bolt your head board through the holes in the bed frame. We simply pre-drilled holes into the legs, stuck a long screw through it and tightened a nut from the other side. It is incredibly sturdy.

{16} Fall in love with your new head board and enjoy many nights without neck cramping while trying to enjoy your evening t.v. line-up!

Please let me know if you have any questions and send pics if you attempt this yourself! It's so worth all the work, and really I have walked before you, so should be easy breezy!!

Have a happy weekend!! Up next a Birthday calendar, a Craigslist score, and some hair beutification!!